NSW Govt pushes to ban synthetic drugs

Months after Sydney schoolboy Henry Kwan leapt to his death, the NSW government wants to put an end to legal highs by outlawing synthetic psychoactive substances.

But critics say the ban will simply fuel manufacturers to push the boundaries by creating more unknown and riskier drugs.

Under the bill introduced to the NSW parliament on Tuesday, penalties for those nabbed manufacturing or supplying synthetic drugs include up to two years imprisonment and more than $2000.

While someone caught possessing them could face up to a year in jail and more than $2000 in fines.

NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts said the new laws were the first of their kind in Australia and will target the "menace" of legal highs.

"These products are dangerous, they are deadly and they are now subject to the most comprehensive and wide-ranging laws of this kind in the country," Mr Roberts said.

While in the past specific drugs could only be banned after they had been identified and tested, Attorney-General Greg Smith said the bill would outlaw those not yet developed by grouping the drugs into families, such as synthetic cannabinoids.

This will prevent manufacturers simply tweaking compounds in an attempt to circumvent the ban, the government says.

Another 40 substances will also be added to the prohibited drugs list - but products such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, foods and herbal items will be exempt.

But Greens MP John Kaye said legislation would not be able to keep up with manufacturers.

"Watch this space for a whole new set of herbal remedies," he told AAP.

"It is inevitable the drug manufacturers will be driven into more extreme forms of chemicals."

The ban will also place an increasing burden on the criminal justice system, already littered by drug offences, he said.

"We agree with regulation, it's the banning that's the problem."

The bill comes after the NSW Government placed an interim ban on synthetic drugs in June - just days after 17-year-old Henry Kwan's death.

The teen is said to have taken NBOMe, before plunging from a balcony thinking he could fly.

Professor Brian Owler, president of the NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), welcomed the laws, saying it has been "alarmed" about the increasing use of synthetic drugs, particularly among young people.

"Very little is known about these drugs and their side effects, which can cause serious harm."